The invention relates to a gas generator for an airbag in a vehicle.
It is known that conventional airbags protect the vehicle occupants in the event of a frontal impact. In a large number of accidents, however, the vehicle occupants are thrown sideways, that is against the vehicle door or into the vehicle interior, in which case the airbag that inflates in front of the vehicle passengers offers no protection. An airbag that inflates between the vehicle occupants and the adjacent vehicle door (or the vehicle side wall) offering protection against side impact (a sidebag) would be to advantage here.
The gas generator for a sidebag of this kind could be fitted in the vehicle door or in the vehicle seat. The gas generators used for the conventional airbags could at best be fitted in the vehicle door, but generally speaking they are too large for fitting in the vehicle seat. Furthermore, the conventional gas generators are of elaborate design and correspondingly expensive.